Aer Lingus continues its strong growth of transatlantic routes from Dublin with the launch of two new routes next summer.

The airline will fly from Dublin to Minneapolis – St Paul from Monday 8 July 2019 and Montreal from Thursday 8 August 2019.

Flights will operate daily. Minneapolis – St Paul will be operated with a Boeing 757 aircraft. Montreal will be operated with a brand new Airbus A321 neo Long Range aircraft, in respect of which Aer Lingus is yet to unveil interior images.

Whilst both routes are already served by direct flights from London, Aer Lingus passengers flying to Minneapolis – St Paul will benefit from US Custms & Immigration pre-clearance in Dublin.

There are ample connections to all flights from London City, Gatwick and Heathrow. If there’s one complaint we could make about timetabling it is that Aer Lingus’ flight arrives in Montreal close to BA’s own daily flight. If Aer Lingus had scheduled its flight earlier in the day, then Aer Lingus and BA would be offering a choice of departure times for passengers on a route where they have a lot of competition in Europe from Air Canada and Air France.Continue reading “Aer Lingus launches Dublin – Minneapolis & Montreal”

Aer Lingus is to fly direct from Dublin to Seattle from May 2018. The airline will fly to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport four times weekly on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The route launches on Friday 18 May 2018.

Flights will be operated using an Airbus A330 aircraft in a two class, economy and business, configuration.

This is the latest addition to a growing portfolio of transatlantic routes for Aer Lingus from Dublin. It has recently launched Miami and announced Philadelphia. It has also launched Los Angeles, Hartford, Newark and Washington Dulles in recent years.

The route will be codeshared with BA and it will be possible, via ba.com to book a one-stop flight from London to Seattle via Dublin with the benefit of US customs & immigration pre-clearance and a direct flight back from Seattle to London. BA flies to Seattle up to two times daily on most days of the week.

It’s also worth noting that BA does have a codeshare partnership with Alaska Airlines at Seattle to destinations such as Anchorage and Portland. Aer Lingus may well follow BA and add Alaska Airlines as a codeshare partner.

If you book via AerLingus.com direct from Dublin it will also be possible to buy an “unbundled” saver fare which does not include a checked bag, seat selection nor blankets and headphomes.

Aer Lingus is due to join the transatlantic joint-business with American Airlines, BA, Finnair and Iberia which is pending regulatory approval. However, based on comments by its CEO this week, there are no immediate plans for Aer Lingus to join the Oneworld alliance.

Philadelphia’s Independence Hall (Image Credit: C. Smyth for VISIT PHILADELPHIA®)Aer Lingus is to fly direct from Dublin to Philadelphia from late March 2018. The airline will fly to Philadelphia International Airport four times weekly on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The route launches on Monday 26 March 2018.

Aer Lingus has confirmed it is to launch a new route from Dublin to Miami.

The airline will fly to Miami three times a week from Friday 1 September 2017.

The route will operate using an A330 aircraft in a two class, economy and business, configuration.

Whilst Miami is served by a number of airlines direct from London Heathrow, this news is of particular interest as Dublin offers US Customs & Immigration pre-clearance and passengers can avoid long immigration queues at Miami airport.

The route will be codeshared with British Airways and by the time the route is operating Aer Lingus should be a member of the Oneworld alliance so members of Oneworld member airline frequent flyer programmes should be able to earn miles and asssociated benefits on these flights.

Separately, Aer Lingus has also announced more flights to Los Angeles, Orlando and Chicago for the summer of 2017. Flights will operate daily to Los Angeles, 4 times weekly to Orlando and twice daily to Chicago.

The airline has also announced new short haul routes to Porto in Portugal and Split in Croatia.

In terms of what hasn’t been announced, there is still no date for Aer Lingus rejoining Oneworld or a date for the start of co-operation between Aer Lingus and American Airlines.

As was widely tipped online, Aer Lingus has today announced it is to return to Los Angeles and Newark airports next year, and launch a new direct route from Dublin to Bradley International Airport in Hartford County, Connecticut. The latter route will be the sole transatlantic route from the airport.

Aer Lingus will fly five times a week to Los Angeles from Sunday 1 May 2016, and daily to Newark from Thursday 1 September 2016. Both routes will be operated by A330 aircraft. Flights for these routes are on sale now at AerLingus.com